


Falling Through The Universe

by Epic_Fangirlness



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bisexual Character, Bisexual Female Character, Bullying, F/M, Hispanic Character, I Don't Even Know, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Professor Albus Dumbledore, Puerto Rican Character, Queer Character, Severus Snape Has a Heart, Time Travel, Young Severus Snape, american in hogwarts, do with that what you will, every fic i write has an oc lol, making my own oc because why not?, making up bullshit logic, severus has a rough life, snape deserves love, taking liberties is my middle name, this is just turning into a drama love story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-25 04:14:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21570643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Epic_Fangirlness/pseuds/Epic_Fangirlness
Summary: Melina Rodriguez is just looking for her cat and all of the sudden she is dead and trying to fake her way through 5th year in a country and time wholly unfamiliar to her. Read along as she tries to befriend an asshole (with a soft side?).*HIATUS*
Relationships: Severus Snape/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 32





	1. Run Over and Lost

**Author's Note:**

> I will post when I get the chance, I only write when it strikes me but I've kind of been on a roll lately. Forgive any grammar or spelling mistakes and just point them out to me in the comment. This is really just self indulgent drivel but I thought other people might enjoy it so here we go.  
> I also wrote this at 4 in the morning so RIP me  
> xoxo

Melina Rodriguez lost her damned cat. Little Minerva, obviously named for the Transfiguration professor out of Harry Potter whose animagus form in the movies was the spitting image of her monster of a cat. So Melina was walking the warm, empty streets of La Jolla, California searching for her. Out of the corner of her eye, Melina saw her cat dash behind a building and quickly went after her. Meli sprinted across the street, whipping her head around both ways though it wouldn’t have done much good, having already been in the middle of the road. That’s when she was promptly struck by a car. Her vision blurred and she fell into darkness, her legs hurt and it felt like every bone in her body snapped. Her last thought was about who would feed Minnie now that she was dead.  
Melina shot up in bed and screamed. She jumped from the oddly familiar bed and scrambled to find the door as her eyes adjusted to the darkened room.

“Calm down my girl.” Commented a gentle voice from the corner of the room, “No harm can come to you here.”

“Who are you? Where are we? Am I dead?” Meli gasped out the questions, they fell from her lips before she could even think to ask them.

“Ah my dear, we are somewhere in the middle of life and death, manifesting itself as somewhere that was a transitioning place in your life.”  


“Oh my god, I can’t believe this, I can’t believe I’m dead.” She flopped down on her bed, which she now recognized as her bed from her childhood, in her father’s apartment he got once her parents had separated, transitional place.  


“Forgive me, Ms. Rodriguez. I have forgotten to introduce myself and I’m sure given you quite a shock. My name is Albus Dumbledore.” He stood and reached a hand out to her.

Melina barked out a harsh laugh, even the grim reaper was making fun of her stupid obsession with that fucking series. “Yeah right, and I’m Jennifer Lopez. If you are here to take my soul to wherever just do it already. I’m kind of having a bad day.”  


“You misunderstand me, my girl. I am Albus Dumbledore and I am not going to take your soul anywhere, I was hoping however to direct it to somewhere it is needed. I have been observing many people and I believe that you are the best person for this job.”  


Melina’s head was spinning and she was starting to believe this wasn’t a hallucination her dying brain was conjuring out of trauma. He certainly talked in circles like Dumbledore. “What are you talking about? How can you be Dumbledore, you are from a book series?”

“I'm not quite sure myself, however in death I believe that we cease to be divided, whatever Universe we are from we come together in the end.” Dumbledore's voice was light but gentle in a way that made her think that he thought she was going to snap, she wasn't so sure she wouldn't either.  


“Okay listen, let's say that I did believe you and you are Dumbledore what job are you even talking about? What use could be for you? You're a wizard and I'm a muggle, if all of this is true then why can't you just do it?”

“I can't do much of anything dead now can I? I could not bring myself back from the next life, however you have not passed the point of no return, you could be sent somewhere that you will have more of an impact. Somewhere you could make a real difference in someone's life. You see in my life I overlooked a great deal of things and treated certain people in ways that I now regret deeply looking back. There is nothing I can do now but I believe that you could create hope where there once was none.”

“I’m still not picking up what you're putting down, who is this person that you're talking about? What could I do for them that you couldn't?” Melina felt like she was about to faint. This was either her worst nightmare or a dream come true.

“A young Severus Snape is the one I'm speaking of, I would like to send you back to his fifth year at Hogwarts to be a confidant of sorts, that year was the first time that I greatly failed him, one of the many over the years. I propose that you befriend him can do right by him where I have done him wrong. Talk to him and show him there is love and safety in the world even for people that are not rich or beautiful in the ways that are most valued by society. You may be able to change his mind on many subjects.”

Now Melina was really losing it, her mind had conjured up some phantom that was trying to talk her into being Severus Snape's girlfriend. As if it was a coincidence he was the literary love of her life and she just so happened to get hit by a car and suddenly she could be transported back to 1975, Scotland in a fantasy book. This is some fanfiction shit, something she would have read like 3 years ago when she was 15, honestly she was so fucking sick of this she decided to just go along with it.  


“Alright, I've decided I'll do it, I’ll befriend Severus Snape. but what will I do when the first war comes? If I stop him from being a Death Eater won't that ruin the whole timeline? Will Voldemort still be at large if I do this?”  


“Near as I can tell, my dear, is there is a universe for every possibility, every choice diverges into a new universe. In my universe, Voldemort has already been defeated for 22 years. And I think you can resolve any issues that come up in your presence.” He reasoned happily.  


“Okay I guess, is there anything else I should know before you send me on my way?” Melina just wanted to get this over with and hoped against reason that this would be over soon, and she would just wake up in her bed and it would all have been horrible dream.  


“There is one that comes to mind, Lemon Drops.” And with that Melina’s bellybutton felt like it was being sucked inwards and twisted somehow, the rest of her following suit and soon she was twisting through space and time. How do I get myself into this shit?


	2. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melina gets dropped at Hogwarts.

Melina let out a scream as she crumpled to the ground, she guessed Dumbledore had apparated her. She looked around, there was a thick forest a few yards from her and to her left she saw a large body of water, in the darkness she could see the looming figure of a castle not far from her, she sprinted towards it. Her breathing shook as she pushed her legs to their limit, the cool night air felt like heaven on her overheated skin and the breeze whipped her long, curly hair into her face.

Melina made it to the castle and found a corridor on the other side of an imposing wooden door. Hogwarts, she thought, I’m in Hogwarts. The halls were long and wide and she wondered how she would ever find Alive Dumbledore in the notably confusing layout of Hogwarts. It turns out she needn't have worried. While Meli had been gaping at the portraits and suits of armor lining the walls, Dumbledore had been made aware of her arrival and walked from his office to meet her.

“Hello my dear.” Melina jerked around to see the old man walking slowly to her. “Pardon me, I didn’t mean to give you a fright, although I must admit I was given quite a scare myself when the wards went off as you came in. Tell me, where did you come from? Apparition is impossible on Hogwarts grounds and yet you seem to have come out of thin air.”

“Fuck, well…I’ll tell you what I know.” She sighed, “Take me to your office and we can walk and talk.” So off they went and she regaled him with her story, she vaguely wondered if she should be giving him so much information but figured that she could leave out some parts, particularly about Snape’s possible future as a Death Eater, she didn’t want to implicate him in anything he may have done that the books didn’t go into. Melina arrived at the end of her story as she and the headmaster stopped at the bottom of the Headmaster Tower.

“That certainly is quite the tale, Melina. However, and I beg your pardon, how can I know this is true?” Dumbledore looked at her with a curiosity that said he really did want to believe her but it was far fetched even for him. Throughout the whole walk something had been niggling at the back of Melina’s mind, something ghost Dumbledore had said that hadn’t made any sense, she thought perhaps it was just his absurdity shining through but it seemed more than that and it was in this moment that it slammed into place.

“Lemon Drops.” Melina spoke confidently, though she had taken a big risk, just saying a candy name rather than any real explanation.

Dumbledore’s face revealed the surprise that fell over him, that had been his office password for all of three hours before this strange girl had materialized on the grounds.

“Incredible, truly wonderful.” Dumbledore beamed, “Now Melina if you are to stay and attend Hogwarts with the fifth years you must get started on your schooling to catch up, of course the practical arts will take precedence over theory but you will be taught some history as well. Today is Thursday so I think it would be a marvelous idea to start your education Monday morning, to give you time to settle, of course.” Dumbledore sounded delighted at his plan. But..

“I can’t learn five years of magic in two months. I’m gonna stand out like a sore thumb.” Melina said.

“Obviously, and that is why you will tell others your mother did not let you have a formal wizarding education, you learned what magic you know wandlessly, however she has recently passed on and your new guardian has seen to it that you will have the best education possible.” And Melina would be damned if she didn’t see that infamous eye twinkle.

“But I don’t even have magic! I’m as muggle as it gets.” Melina, like everyone else who has read Harry Potter had waited for her letter, pretended to do spells with various wand stand-ins, and sometimes when she was completely alone tried spells in a vain attempt to capture the magic she spent her whole life chasing.

“Perhaps in your world you did not, but I can feel the magic in you, it is possible you can learn magic, even be a great witch someday.” Dumbledore spoke softly, almost encouragingly.

It was too much, her had was spinning and she numbly collapsed in a nearby chair. She felt like crying for her lost family and friends, her life that she left behind, and because she almost thought it was worth it; she finally got what she always dreamed, she had the chance to reach out and snatch what had always eluded her, importance, being special for once.

“What if...what if I can’t do it? I’m not good enough and I can’t pull this off?” Melina all but whispered into the words into the heavy summer air.

“We won’t know until you succeed or fail, but if it will make you feel better I have great confidence in you.” Dumbledore smiled, “Now let’s find you a room to stay in for the time being.”

The weekend passed quickly and they got started with lessons bright and early Monday after making a quick trip to Olivander’s wand shop. Melina nearly had a heart attack when the wands did indeed work in her hands and most reacted strongly, it took nearly 30 minutes to find her wand, Dogwood, Unicorn hair, 11 and a half inches, whippy. Melina spent day in day out trying to learn everything she could about magic, when she wasn’t with Dumbledore or McGonagall or Flitwick, she was in the library, pouring over books on every subject. She paid special attention to Potions, in her mind she defended herself by reasoning that she hadn’t learned any potions since Slughorn was trouncing about in France with one of his former students turned Quidditch star, it certainly was not to impress one Severus Snape. And she definitely did not lay in bed at night wondering what he would look like and what she would say to him. Soon enough she had gotten her uniform and school supplies from Diagon Alley and she was mostly ready for the beginning of the school year. Melina kept her clothes that she had been wearing the night she had crossed universes, she steadfastly refused to call it dying because she was not ready to go down that road, and she tried to wear them as much as possible, even though Dumbledore had bought her several muggle and wizarding outfits. Those clothes (skinny jeans and a baby pink crop top that said ‘Call Me Daddy’), her phone, her wallet, and her charger were the only things she had left from her old life. By some miracle her phone still played all of her music, though it obviously doesn’t have internet or calling ability, Melina would die without her modern music, drowning in ABBA and other 70’s jams she wasn’t feeling.

Melina on her third day of Charms with Flitwick cast a levitation charm, she was shocked at the magic coursing through her and coming from the wand, the feather began to lift from the table and she beamed at it, she gently lowered the feather and dashed over to Flitwick to hug him, she lifted him off of the ground and swung him around. Melina realized what she was doing and hurriedly set him down and apologized, he graciously laughed it off and released her early.

The day before the students were set to Melina was very nervous, she wondered if she was ready to be in real classes and was not sure she was going to be able to keep a low profile. Melina was comfortable with her routine that she fell into with the professors that stayed in Hogwarts over summer break. She woke up and ate breakfast, then worked with McGonagall on Transfiguration for two hours and then Flitwick on Charms for two hours, after her ‘classes’ she would eat lunch and talk with the professors and the Headmaster, then she would go to the library and research potions and defense, she started to teach herself Ancient Runes but wasn’t very good yet. Then she went back to her rooms, changed into some workout clothes and ran a few laps around the lake, then she showered and had dinner and practiced spells until she got tired.

After dinner on that final night of peace, Dumbledore pulled Melina aside and asked her for an escort to his office.

“Sure, I could use a stretch after all of that food.” Melina laughed.

Dumbledore chuckled as well, “Once all of the staff are back we have a feast to commemorate another year.” They climbed the stairs to his office.

“Now Melina, the reason I asked you to accompany me was to see if you would like to be sorted tonight. I thought perhaps you would prefer it to joining the first years tomorrow evening.”

“I actually already know what house I’m in,” at Dumbledore’s raised eyebrows she explained, “Hogwarts houses are kind of a big deal where I’m from, there are a bunch of quizzes that tell you which one you’d be in. I have taken dozens and I always get Ravenclaw.”

“Well then, surely there is no harm in affirming these quizzes, every student must be sorted.”

“I guess it couldn’t hurt, alright let’s do this.” Melina steeled herself, she did not especially like the idea of anyone, animated hat or not, poking around in her head. Dumbledore brought down the sorting hat form its place high in a cupboard.

“Oh hello, this is unorthodox now isn’t it?” A voice came from the old, patched hat.

“Quite, I was hoping you could sort our dear Miss Rodriguez into her house, she is a bit too old to walk with our first years.” Dumbledore looked at Melina with an amused smile.

“I’m sure we can arrange that.” Melina sat on a wooden chair and Dumbledore placed the hat on her head.

“Oh I see, not from around here are you? And you fancy yourself a Ravenclaw. Well you are very intelligent and picking up magic so quickly. But you have a strong desire to prove yourself and have a bit of a mean streak, eh? I think it has to be…

“SLYTHERIN.” The hat bellowed into the quiet office. Dumbledore’s eyebrows rose and Melina fell out of her chair, half from shock and half from having a hat scream in her ears.

“Are you serious? I can’t be in Slytherin, they are gonna eat me alive!” Melina’s mind was going to the worst case scenarios , imagining all of the hexes that she would be on the receiving end of and for the first time since that first night she arrived her stomach was full of dread.

“Now Melina, I assure you that I would never put you in a dangerous situation, at the first sign of any issues I will make sure you have a separate living area and protection, however it would be best now to try and blend into the group.” Dumbledore assured her.

“Yeah? Blend in with Death Eaters? Can’t wait for that.” Melina groaned and put her face in her hands, she felt like screaming and it the inside of her cheek to keep from saying anything she would regret.

“Melina, you should know better than everyone that Slytherin is not just a group of Death Eaters in the making, they are people with varied ideologies and personalities just like the other houses.”

Melina let loose a long sigh,”I know you are right but, if I slip up they will figure it out, not all Slytherins are bad, I know that.” She thought of Snape and hoped this would at least make it easier to get close to him, maybe it would be less suspicious to befriend him if they were in the same house and she could play it off like she just needed a guide around the school.

“That’s the spirit Melina, why don’t you go back to your quarters and get your things ready to move into the dorms tomorrow night. Get some rest, I’m sure that you will feel better after a good night of sleep.” Dumbledore said kindly.

“Good idea, I’ll need the rest for all the bullshit I’m going to have to come up with starting tomorrow. Goodnight, Professor.” She bade him farewell and walked back to her rooms, all the while brainstorming answers to questions she would surely get asked in the following days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think Snape as a teenager is like? Any headcanons? We will find out in the next chapter how Melina will deal with him and the rest of her new house. Also, I kind of am picturing Melina to look like Demi Lovato with shoulder length hair, just in case you wanted a visual. Listen, I know electronics don't work at Hogwarts but I say that they do.


	3. Not So Bad

As a matter of fact, Melina did not feel better after rest, if anything she felt even sicker. Her stomach did flips at the thought of the students being on the train to Hogwarts as she roamed the halls looking for something to soothe her anxiety. Normally she used exercise as a means as a means of relaxing, but she had already gone for a two mile run and done at least 250 squats with no avail. Melina felt like her heart was in her throat and decided to sit by the lake with a copy of Quidditch Through The Ages. She spent most of her morning and some of the afternoon reading.

After lunch, Melina went to her rooms and opted to start getting ready to meet the students. She curled her chin length hair, decided she didn’t like it and straightened it, only to re-curl it with the spells Flitwick had taught her. Melina’s dark hair curled into tight coils that she fluffed out to make them more messy and casual. After that she started in on her makeup, she greatly missed the makeup of 2019, the products were nowhere near what she was used to working with in her time. Melina chose to do blue eyeshadow to maybe blend in a little bit, though she still knew no girl was going to have makeup like hers, cut creases weren’t particularly the fashion of the 70’s and neither was highlighting and contouring. She went with a soft dewy highlight, shiny lip gloss, and a winged, smokey blue eye. 

She cast Tempus, a very helpful spell that McGonagall had taught to her when she had shown up to their tutoring session 20 minutes late and then claimed that Melina never had an excuse to be tardy again, and saw that she should start heading down to the Great Hall. She figured that if she timed her entrance perfectly she could fall in with the middle of the crowd of Slytherins heading to their table. Melina walked briskly down the moving stairways and into the corridor that led to the Great Hall, she saw an ocean of students entering the hall and slid into the group as smoothly as possible, she took a seat at the Slytherin table toward the far end where it was least populated. To her left was an older looking girl with dirty blonde hair sat alone and to her left a few feet away was a group of boys that looked around her age, they were talking but the hall was so loud she couldn’t hear their voices, Melina didn’t pay much attention to them, best not to show too much interest in anything or anyone. A girl with auburn hair and a pretty face plopped into the seat in front of Melina, and gave Melina a charming smile.

“Hello, I don’t believe I’ve seen you around here and I am quite certain you aren’t a first year. My name is Josephine Niles,” The girl (Josephine) smoke in a soft warm voice, “I figured I should come talked to you before you got trapped into conversation with one of those horrible boys.” Her hazel eyes flicked to the group of boys that Melina had glanced at and for a moment the charming smile slipped from her lips, but Melina could have imagined that brief disdainful look in her eyes for the next second she moved her eyes back to Melina’s and the smile was back. Josephine was so beautiful it nearly took Melina’s breath away.

“Oh well thank you for your rescue, I am forever in your debt.” Melina joked, and to her misfortune it came out a bit flirtatious. But Josphine’s smile only widened. “I’m Melina, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” She reached across the table to shake the other girl’s hand.

“Oh please, the pleasure is mine. So, may I ask where you have come from Ms. Melina with an American accent?” Josphine inquired. Melina repeated the story that she had rehearsed about her mother dying and her new guardians she moved in with in London and her lack of magical education before this.

“That sounds just horrible, I would probably die without being able to use my magic, I don’t know how those Muggles do it.” Josephine looked troubled at the mere thought of it.

They continued to talk while everyone was still getting seated but Josephine was pulled into conversation with the blonde loner, which gave Melina a chance to look at all of the people at the other tables.

Out of the corner of her eye she sees movement and turns her head back to the boys Josephine did not like. She saw him, sw the person that had brought her across universes and thousands of miles. Melina could have picked him out of any crowd. His face was twisted into a permanent grimace, his hair was black as night and hung limply around his face, his nose was hooked and crooked which made for a horrible parody of what a nose should be, his lips were thin and she saw flashes of yellowed, slightly crooked teeth whenever he deigned to make conversation with his housemates. Melina thought, for some stupid reason that he was going to look like a young Alan Rickman, and have the same reserved handsomeness of him as well, she was let down by the lack of resemblance between her imaginary suave Snape and the real, unfortunate looking, Snape sitting feet away from her. Melina dropped her eyes to the mountains of food in front of her, she felt ridiculous. Of course, she thought, there is a reason why every description in the books of him says he is ugly. She turned to get one more look at him, unable to stop herself. He had an annoyed look on his face and he spoke loudly so his group could hear him, Melina could too.

“I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?” His voice startled Melina into a stupor, she had assumed he would look like Alan Rickman but figured his voice would be too much to ask for, but as clear as day she heard the deep sensual baritone rumble from his throat, and in the back of her mind wondered if it was to early to ask him to fuck her, she would have let him take her right there in the mashed potatoes if he would have agreed. The only difference was that he had a thick northern accent that made him sound like the British equivalent of a Texan. She goggled at him for another second and as if he could feel eyes on him he turned and made eye contact with her, he had the deepest black eyes she had ever seen. Refusing to be cowed by his harsh glare she put on her brightest and most beautiful smile and held eye contact for another couple seconds and he was the one who looked away, with red crawling up his neck and sallow cheeks.

Snape

Severus had just told Mulciber he didn't know who that girl with insane blue eyeshadow was when he felt eyes boring into the side of his head, he turned his head to tell Niles to quit looking at him but it was the girl they had been talking about. Her brown eyes stared, unashamed at being caught looking at him, so he glared to try to intimidate her and let her know he knew he was ugly she didn't have to make a point to stare at him. Slytherin girls were such pretentious bitches. But she beamed at him and he felt embarrassed and dazzled, for a second he thought he saw a flash of desire in her eyes but that was fucking ridiculous, someone that looks like her, even with her odd makeup and her obviously wider set body she was beautiful. Somehow the blue around her eyes made her look more ethereal, especially with her bouncy curls framing her face, than what he usually saw on women. He still preferred a natural woman, like Lily, but he knew beauty when he saw it. Severus could feel his face flush an unattractive red and averted his gaze, since she obviously wasn't going to back down.

Mulciber gave him a sleazy grin, clearly he had not missed the exchange. "You gonna go for her? I didn't realize you like fat chicks mate, you always run around with that skinny mudblood."

Severus rolled his eyes, "As if I would be into her, she looks absolutely mad, and it seems like she has already been claimed by Niles, with that chit in her ear she will hate us before breakfast tomorrow." Severus looked back over to them to see the Hispanic girl engaged in conversation with Josephine and Roselyn Whitehorn, the blonde sitting to her left.  
Niles liked pretty things, people, objects, words. So therefore she had hated Severus since she laid eyes on him in their first year. Whatever interest the strange girl held in him would be stomped out by Niles before too long. Not like it mattered either way, his heart belonged to Lily, with her slim body and fire red hair and clear blue eyes, even thinking of her made his heartbeat quicken.

"She's pretty hot, I might try for that." Mulciber leered at her.

"I'm sure she will be flattered by your interest, since you are an upstanding and respectable member of the house." Severus drawled sarcastically. 

"Like you are one to talk." Mulciber looked him up and down and turned to talk to Avery, leaving Severus alone with his thoughts.

Melina

Through the rest of dinner Melina saw out of the corner of her eye that Snape kept looking at her, somehow his eyes always came back to rest on her, she was flattered. Melina chatted with Josephine and the other girl, Roselyn she learned, and resisted the urge to grin whenever she felt those black eyes slide back to her. The rest was fairly uneventful and Melina's nerves were almost completely settled.

She walked back to the Slytherin dorm with her new friends and unpacked her things, she also met the rest of her dorm mates and they all seemed relatively harmless, Ophelia, Elisabeth, and Marie. All the while Jo (which she insisted Melina call her), was tell her about "that awful Snape" and his constant fighting with the Marauders, and how unpleasant he was. Truth be told Melina got a huge kick out of what she heard, as it was very apparent that Jo had no actual reason to dislike Snape. They finished settling and turned the lights out for bed, Melina decided she would start waking up earlier to go on her runs to avoid any curious eyes and any questions about her obviously muggle attire.


	4. First Impressions

Snape

Severus preferred to wake up early, he liked to shower alone without the risk of anyone seeing his bruises and how thin he was, the last thing he needed was for it to get out that his old man used him for a punching bag, he would be chewed up and spit out if pure bloods found out he was getting knocked around by a Muggle. 

After his shower he dressed into his robes and was going to read in the common room, he walked down the stairs and heard someone loudly singing, Severus used that term loosely, peering over to the fireplace he watched as the dark haired girl from last night danced around and shook her hips suggestively. Severus was shocked to see upon closer inspection that she had on a skintight blue leotard with pink shorts under it. Severus wondered how just 10 hours ago he could have thought she was fat, she had a small waist that flared at her hips into a rather large ass with thick and muscular thighs. Her hair was tied into a tiny ponytail with hair escaping because of how short it was. Severus had never seen a woman that looked like her before, he could have watched her dancing for hours, his eyes glued to her round bottom and the hourglass shape of her waist. He must have made some noise of appreciation because she swung around to look at him with a startled face. When she saw who it was she gave him a big smile. His face flushed and he averted his eyes but it was too late.

"Oh hey, I didn't expect anyone to be up this early, I just wanted to take a jog around the lake before breakfast." To Severus's great surprise she was an American. 

"Yes well, see that you keep it down in the future, I came down to study before breakfast and it is quite distracting to hear you singing your...Mexican music." Severus was trying desperately to not let on he was taking glances at her perky breasts and said the first mean thing he could think of.

She laughed unexpectedly. "I promise to keep it down. And I'm Puerto Rican. Not Mexican. My name is Melina by the way, Melina Rodriguez. But my friends call me Mel or Meli." She put her hand out for him to shake, he reluctantly took it and belatedly realized his hands were disgustingly sweaty.

"Snape, Severus Snape." She released his hand and he tried to sneakily wipe the sweat off of his hands, she didn't though and he thought he was going to die.

"How very James Bond of you. I'm sure you can do a good Sean Connery impression with that voice." Melina joked with a wry smile, god help him was she flirting?

"I don't do impressions, I would ask you to stop with this absurd prattle and leave me to my book." He was just trying to get out of this conversation without making a fool of himself, he was sure Melina could see right through his rude facade, it felt like all pretty girls could look right through him.

"Of course, but would you mind if I sat with you after I change into my robes." She gestured to her body and he damned himself by taking another look at her luscious figure. Melina giggled and he knew in that moment he was fucking doomed, she had seen his eyes flick down to her generous cleavage.

"I suppose that I can't stop you from being in the same room as me, though I insist you don't make it a habit and you must be quiet." Melina chuckled at his words and then walked up the stairs towards her room.

Severus took this moment to shake himself from the hypnosis that he had been in, this was idiotic he had seen countless beautiful girls before so why was this one any different. So she has an incredible body and pretty face and laughs even when you are being an arse, that doesn't mean she wants to be with the likes of you, have you seen yourself recently? He thought of the purple and yellowing bruises on his abdomen and arms, and the way his ribs stick out and it felt like cold water had been poured on him, he could never be on her level. He sat on the couch and resolved himself to not look at her and only speak when spoken too. He would have to be stupid to think he had a chance in hell with her, Lily barely even wanted to be his friend anymore. Ever since last year she had been distant and reluctant to talk about more than school.

Melina

Melina had a peaceful run around the lake, did some lunges and pushups then returned to the Slytherin common room. She had the Latin Trap version of Bodak Yellow stuck in her head since she woke up and she figured she could indulge herself in a little dance party considering it would probably be another hour before the other students started waking up. She watched her hips move in the mirror from the corner of the room as she rapped the song, when she got through it she switched to Juicy by Doja Cat. In the mirror she saw a movement that wasn't hers and she flicked her eyes to it, she was delighted to see Severus frozen at the bottom of the stairs and watching her hungrily. His eyes raked up and down her body, taking in her silly outfit that she had to settle for in the store, however he didn't seem to find it as funny as she did though, she idly wondered if he would just jump her right here, she quite liked that idea but she doubted he that he had the confidence to do anything that bold. From behind her, Severus let out a small groan and this was Melina's chance to 'catch' him staring and introduce herself. 

Severus, clearly on uneven footing and embarrassed at being caught said some mean thing about Mexican music, she laughed it off and attributed it to it being the 70's and him being as white as milk. She told him her name and tried to joke with him once more, upon him responding unfavorably she invited herself to sit with him. Melina was very pleased when he agreed and dashed up to get changed. She threw on her uniform but left of the outer robe, she had purposely hiked her skirt a little higher than regulation and just maybe she had missed a few buttons at the top of her shirt. Melina grabbed she school bag and a copy of the fifth year potions book, she figured that she might be able to entice Severus into a conversation about potions. She walked back down the stairs to find Severus stiffly sitting on the edge of the couch with his own potions book. His eyes flicked up to hers for a split second but flew back down to the words on the page. 

Melina sat on the middle of the couch and angled her legs toward Severus's own, if either one of them moved their legs would more than likely brush against each other, and set her bag and outer robe next to her feet. Now came the waiting game, she did say that she would be quiet and she was determined to let him make conversation if it was going to happen. Occasionally she would look up from her book and see his head jerk back to his book and she would have to hide a little smirk of satisfaction.

Eventually, she got bored of this little game they both played and came up with a mischievous idea. She 'accidentally' dropped her book between Severus's and her legs and bent to pick it up, judging from his harsh breath, Severus had seen exactly what she had wanted him to, she raised her eyes to his face and was met with his tomato red face. Melina knew that perhaps this wasn't the best way to get his attention and gain his friendship but god was she having fun teasing him and she thought she saw something south of the border pointing up.

Severus

MERLIN'S PANTS, Severus almost had a heart attack. He looked Melina out of curiosity just as she bent to pick up her book and caught an eyeful of her tanned breasts that sat high in her, Christ, emerald green bra. His face filled with blood and his pants felt a bit tighter than they should. He had not succeeded in keeping his eyes trained on potion formulas throughout their study session and hated himself a little more with every glance he stole at her.

"You know, I am getting so hungry, would you like to accompany me to breakfast?" She asked sweetly.

"I-I'm not sure that is a good-" He started, thinking of the tent his pants were sporting at this moment but was interrupted.

"Oh come on, Severus. I'm sure you don't need to study any more. You have such an intelligent air about you. Just walk down to breakfast with me." She reached for his arm quickly and he instinctively flinched. 

Melina

Oh fuck, she was so stupid, she knew he had a bad home life but she still tried to grab his arm. 

She rested her hand gently on his shoulder, "I'm sorry, I just get a little excitable sometimes, I won't grab at you again I promise." Melina said soothingly.

"Whatever, you just surprised me is all, as if I'm fucking afraid of you." He spat out his words like they gave him a bad taste in his mouth.

"Of course not. I mean, I've heard from a couple of people that you're a really powerful wizard they told me you take on four Gryffindors alone almost everyday." Melina knew one of the fastest ways to calm men down was to stroke their ego and sure enough Severus's chest puffed up and he straightened his back.

"Those dunderheads barely know their wands from their asses. I suppose I could walk to breakfast with you." Severus's voice came out a tad roughly but he was much more amiable and Melina wondered if anyone besides Lily had ever given him a compliment. They walked to breakfast slowly and Melina gave him the same backstory she had given the girls last night.

"So are you from Texas?" Severus asked once she had finished her tall tale.

"Oh god no, but that is so funny you asked. Every single person I have talked to has asked me that, it's like you Brits think that is the only state in America." She laughed. "I'm from San Diego, California."

"I guess that's the first thing that comes to mind. Is it nice there, in California?" He questioned. 

"It is, it's beautiful there year round. I miss it a lot, there are a lot of things that I miss." Melina thought of her family, her mom's loud music in the mornings to wake her up before school, the late night movie marathons with her parents, her father and her reading together on the couch. She started to tear up a little bit and gave Severus a watery smile.

"It must be hard for you. Moving all the way here alone and leaving that all behind." Severus spoke awkwardly. 

"It is but, I'm gonna be alright. Besides I've already made a friend so I'm not really alone." Melina winked at him.

"You barely know me." Severus protested, looking even more uncomfortable. 

"I have a good feeling about you, Severus. You feel...safe, for some reason I feel like I can tell you anything. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" She had said it to butter him up but Melina found that her words rang true. More than anyone else she felt secure around Severus. She wanted to do that for him too, especially with his upcoming split from Lily.

Severus kept silent but went a little pink. They reached the Great Hall and sat at the Slytherin table, they talked about what they were excited for this year and how Melina was nervous about the O.W.L's but Severus was confident. More kids started coming to Breakfast and crowding the tables. Jo and Roselyn walked behind Severus and gave her a weird look but Melina just smirked and gave a half shrug. Finally they had to part ways because she had Ancient Runes and Severus had Herbology. Melina touched Severus's hand lightly and shyly smiled, Severus nodded and bade goodbye to her. As Melina turned away to go to class, she shot a look behind her to insure he was out of sight and did a John Bender style fist thrust into the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we are starting to see Melina's Slytherin tendencies. How do you think she is going to react to the Marauders? How will the Marauders react to her?


End file.
